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STRAP END

Unique ID:YORYM-185E67

Object type certainty: Certain
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status: Awaiting validation

An incomplete copper-alloy strap end of Early-Medieval date, c.AD 750 - 950. The strap end is of Thomas' Class A, Type 2 being tongue shaped with a zoomorphic terminal. The opposite terminal is broken and worn. The upper surface of the strap end bears an off-central rectangular panel of incised cross-hatched decoration flanked by irregularly spaced double banded borders. The zoomorphic terminal is in the form of a crude forward facing animal head with worn eyes and snout. The reverse is flat and undecorated.

The metal has a mid-green delaminated patina with red patches beneath and is worn. The strap end is 56.9mm long, 13.3mm wide, 3.7mm thick and weighs 8.2g.

Late Anglo Saxon and Viking strap ends have been classified into several types by Thomas with this example fitting into Thomas' Class A, Type 2 which is described as "a very diverse type encompassing a range of non-representational, curvilinear and geometric patterns [..] often in combination with highly stylised animal head terminals".